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06 Jul 2016, 19:01
| FROM MBAble: Lessons my MBA Taught Me — Part 1: Research Phase |
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Call this a Wayback Wednesday post, but I want to post a little something from my old blog (now defunct) about what I learned from the MBA application process…granted that was from last year and I hadn’t actually applied yet — being in the research phase was more like it. I plan on making this a periodic series in which I reflect on what I’ve learned throughout the MBA application process and, later, my experience in the MBA program into which I will soon be matriculating. That said, get ready for some seriously painful introspection in the coming months! Anyway, here goes Part 1, republished from this post of mine: Thursday, April 9, 2015 What Can an MBA Application Teach You About Yourself? Maybe the sheer act of getting into B-School shouldn’t be what we consider the biggest win in the application process for an MBA. Perhaps, it should be the exercise of fully fleshing out what you want in life and getting to know just who you really are. I had an extremely eye-opening lunch conversation last Friday with a woman I had heard speak last year as a panelist at an MBA conference geared toward women. We got off to a running start for lunch, simulating an alumni interview for an MBA program. Not long after diving into a lively discussion, she dropped a bomb of a question on me: “why do you want an MBA?” I gave my usual response: I work in online advertising now but would like to get into product management—a role that usually requires an MBA. Ultimately, I want to build a robust tool kit to prepare me for that kind of thing since it’s an intuitive career move for someone in my position, etc. Needless to say, she saw right through my scripted response. “What makes you happy? Why do you really want an MBA?” Well, if this blog makes anything clear, it should be that one of my major personal gripes is that I don’t invest enough in myself. Truthfully, I’ve zipped through the last 10-or-some-odd years of my life without ever having done an honest evaluation of what my passions are and spending hardly any time (or money) on self-improvement and personal well-being. The products of that way of life are summarily the following:
 I had a solid plan for myself back in 2013, just months after graduating from undergrad…? At the time I made that list, all I was concerned about was whether I was putting myself in a good position to take “the next logical step” for a marketing career that more or less started (and maintained) itself. As I reflect more on my career so far, I primarily did what I did to make others proud, to get a prestigious line on my resume—all reasons outside of personal motivation. I spun myself into a vicious cycle; the problem was that I wasn’t aware because I never made a conscious effort to ensure that I was fully present in living my own life. Now that I have allowed myself to think further about what I’ve genuinely enjoyed in my life, I think I’m better equipped to answer the question of why I want to get an MBA. At the end of the day, admissions committees can easily call your bluff if you’re being disingenuous. The woman I met with candidly shared with me that at the end of the day, top B-Schools want to admit the best students in order to help sustain the institution and even to grow the high profile. These top-tier B-School want to matriculate high profile alumni who can inspire future generations of students, and eventually haul in the huge naming gifts. In reflecting on my life and what made my happy, I told her that about when I motivated my disenchanted colleagues and took strides to change our company culture in addition to how I mentored students to guide them in using writing as a means to express themselves. She said it was only then that she saw the certain sparkle in my eye that she was looking for with the big question of “why” that she had posed early on. Although I’m not 100 percent sure that the field of human capital is what I want to focus on long term should I return to the corporate world, I know mentoring and motivating people in addition to using creative means to shape corporate culture are things that make me happy now—things that are worth highlighting in my personal statement for B-School. But even more importantly, they are good things to know about myself as I continue to get deeper into the process of finding out what it really is that I’m after in my life. Cheers, Durian  
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11 Jul 2016, 06:01
| FROM The MBA Manual: Use the Right Application Perspective |
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One thing that I always felt was daunting about applying to B-schools was the selectivity of the programs. I would read the stats on Poets & Quants and feel overwhelmed–selection rates of 7%, 11% and 13% were common and slightly disheartening. I didn’t want myself to get bogged down in self-assessing and questioning, so I decided to change the way that I thought about the admissions. The simple change was to think in terms of raw numbers rather than percentages. For example, let’s look at the top 10 business school programs, as ranked by StartClass.
This is where a re-frame helped me, and hopefully can help you, too. The thing about some of these schools is that they have massive class sizes, so even an admittance rate of 11% equates to nearly 1,000 people. So, instead of thinking about admissions in terms of percentages, I opted to think about it in terms of raw numbers. Let’s look at the top ten again, but by raw admits this time.
I took this a step further and rationalized to myself that, Hey, these numbers all have to be mutually exclusive. It’s not like someone can occupy a seat in two different programs. So, I added the admits from all of the top schools together. 935 + 410 + 583 + 406 + 241 + 743 + 691 + 859 + 281 + 323 = 5,472 Now, this number made me feel a ton better. There were going to be 5,472 people who got a spot at a top 10 business school each year. I asked myself if I thought I was in the top 5,472 applicants, and I felt I was. That’s the kind of thinking that you need to approach the application process with. It’ll keep you motivated and hopeful rather than nervous and pessimistic.  
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20 Jul 2016, 11:02
| FROM DLo's BSchool Debrief: b-school debrief: costs of the application process |
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So Much $$$ Business school costs a lot. This is obvious, whether you are a full-ride scholarship student or are paying fully out-of-pocket. Aside from the (constantly rising) tuition costs, you have the cost of living, external costs of the program, the utility cost for losing 2 years of income, and before everything, the cost of applying. In the grand scheme of things, the cost of applying may seem like a small, tiny teardrop in the bucket of the overall financial toll of an MBA. But for those who are still prospecting schools, still working on their GMAT, or even considering if they want to get an MBA, the costs of each part of the application process can be a large concern. Trying to be Cheap As I laid out before, my approach to the application process was to spend as minimally as possible. This wasn’t a reflection of my indecision on the MBA, but more that I have always had an internal conflict on spending money to get ahead when applying for things – I’m very stubborn about it, and always opted to self-study for the SATs and GREs instead of plunking down thousands for classes. The results, I will say, were mixed. I took the SATs 4 times before I got a great score, and the GRE was just enough to get me into grad school for my MS. For b-school, the application process was far more grueling, and it made me reconsider this mantra. If you read around or ask around these days, there are two main sources of application support people willingly drop wads of cash into for assistance and advantage: GMAT classes and, more recently, admissions consultants. GMAT Classes  I touched on the GMAT course issue a bit in the previous posts on the GMAT, but I’ll lay out how it went for me. I started studying half-heartedly with a set of Manhattan GMAT books, and found that I really enjoyed their approach. After my first diagnostics, I was dismayed at just how bad I was, not really taking into consideration the specialized approach you need to learn to master the GMAT. I saw an offer to attend the first session of a Manhattan in-person course, so I checked it out. After going through the session and seeing how structured they were in teaching + drilling their strategies, I definitely considered the course. But at $1,600 or so, I was very hesitant. I ended up not going with it and believing I could conquer it through self-study as usual. Again as I detailed in the GMAT posts, I had a great deal of luck in that a friend who had taken the course ended up with a full year extra of access to their online materials – including video lectures. I jumped on it and this definitely helped in my study process, as well as the syllabus they gave to lay out a study strategy for their 9 books. The online-only course was around $900 or so at the time, so in all honesty I might have given that more consideration if I didn’t have free access, and had known how useful it was. So for your consideration, if you’re really struggling or even moderately struggling with the GMAT, I do believe some assistance helps, but again from a budgetary perspective I found myself very much not wanting to drop so much money on a course. Keep in mind as well that each run-through of the test is $250, so if you don’t want to take my multiple-effort approach and keep spending more on re-takes, perhaps a course may work for you as well. Admissions Consultants Now we come to the truly divergent path of the application process – whether or not use an admissions consultant. A friend who had been applying to Top 10 schools had told me a few years before about admissions consultants – and I was surprised at the concept. You pay people thousands of dollars to tell you how to apply to school? Doesn’t that dilute the purpose of the application? But she was aiming for Stanford – her dream school – and was thus prepared to spare no expense. As the pressure and stress mounted on me 5-6 months before it was my turn to submit my apps, I took a good hard look at just what a consultant provided and if it was worth my consideration. Nothing about my budgetary mindfulness changed, but I knew for sure I was going to do this b-school thing, and the more real the applications got, the more uncertain it felt my future was. What if I didn’t get in to where I wanted – or worse, came out completely empty handed? I looked at the price points of some of these services – Admissionado, MBA Prep School, etc. Prices ranged from $2,500 – 5,000 per school. This was insane to me, to spend so much money to re-tool a story that I had to build myself. It appeared to just be a magic wand that people were looking for, that would give them the golden ticket to the b-school of their choice. I dove in and did my research on what exactly I could get out of a consultant, and the answers varied greatly. Some promised to get you into a Top 10 school; some were far more pragmatic and their claims were simply to build the best story you can by helping you mine yourself, and to write more pointedly. I got a quote from one of the larger consultancies for my application list – Columbia, NYU, Stanford, Wharton, UCLA, Haas and Cornell. They offered me help on one, Columbia, for a single-school fee of $4000 with additional schools at $2000 a pop.  Holy. Crap. I saw those numbers and ran away. The biggest takeaway I got from consultant research was that nothing was guaranteed (of course), and there were no sure things. If my profile was weak, the “best” consultants in the world couldn’t help me. I felt I had a strong profile, and was confident in my writing abilities, so I decided to go it on my own, with some budget help. Budget Admissions Tools There are far cheaper options to help you through the admissions process and submitting a strong application without dropping thousands on a consultant. I searched around for some, and found some by chance, but eventually settled on two resources which I came to really love. (Note: I am neither affiliated with nor am I working in conjunction with either of these two. These are the two resources I personally came to love during my application process.) Touch MBA Podcasts – This was my first discovery. I had a long commute to work, and started listening to GMAT podcasts; once that nonsense was over, I checked out admissions podcasts and stumbled upon Darren Joe’s podcasts. He touches on a variety of topics, from interviews and Q&As with admissions officers at a huge list of schools (including many in the Top 10), as well as general admissions advice on writing, story building, defining your goals, success stories, and more. These were in convenient less-than-an-hour-long slices that I could listen to and repeat if I wanted to absorb his strategies better. He also provides a free profile evaluation and school selection advice, which helped me to discover Cornell Tech’s MBA, a program I had previously not known of. Touch MBA’s topics and overall enthusiastic approach to his podcasts kept me calm and steady whenever I was thinking about the daunting task of applying. Being a previous admissions officer at a top MBA program in Asia, I felt his perspective was sharp, but he also always had a genuine feel to his advice – he really just wanted to help people out. When I first started listening, everything was a free podcast; as he gained a larger following, he has started to create purchasable resources including more in-depth videos and tools that I didn’t personally use, but are affordable as well. Essay Snark – I absolutely love, love, LOVE this site. These guys (one person? I can’t tell) are the opposite of Touch MBA in personality – no sugar coating, blunt advice, and unapologetic topics. While still maintaining the same goal of helping you guide yourself through the b-school application, they take a tough-love approach. This is highlighted in the most part by their “blahg,” which is a daily-updated blog covering topics that are pertinent to the current position of the admissions cycle, along with countdowns and advice for each school in the Top 15. The blahg is $9.99 per month to read, which is well worth it in my opinion.  Essay Snark offers more conventional consultant packages – still a few grand – for those that opt for it, but they also provide a plethora of resources and a la carte feedback options. I used their individual strategy guides and a few other products and only spent about $250 total on help from here – WELL worth it from my perspective. I will detail Essay Snark’s guides and how I used them in future blog posts, but the three products I did pay for through them were 15 weeks of Blahg access + Weekly Countdown e-mails for $35, the strategy guide 6-pack for $99, and the customized recommender’s instructions sets for $99. I kept a Blahg subscription for a few months after apps were turned in because they were still compelling reads. These two resources made a true difference in my application quality, and I was able to do so by only spending a few hundred dollars – about the same cost as one run at the GMAT. While I set out initially thinking I’d need no external service help, I felt that there were just enough for me. EXCEPT!: Friends and Peers – This is the unspoken budget application tool. When it comes to your essays, you can do without the pricey admissions consultants by simply consulting a large range of your friends – ones who know how to write, ones who’ve gone to b-school, ones that know you as a person, and even ones you’ve just met, aka current students at the schools you’re applying to. Networking and utilizing your network is one of the most crucial skills you’ll need during b-school, so you may as well start now! Additional Costs So aside from the costs of the GMAT, GMAT resources / courses, and application resources / consultants, there’s still that last costly part of the process that people forget – the applications! When you set out to determine your school list, don’t forget that each application you’re submitting is going to cost between $200-250. If you’re peppering the entire field and trying for 10+ schools, that’s already $2500+ right there (we’ll talk about school research and choice, as well as quality over quantity, in the next entry). Don’t forget to keep this in mind too, especially if you’re still on the fence of either your chances or if you really want that MBA. Final Thoughts Like I said before, the costs of applying are small change compared to the overall cost of getting your MBA. But the amount you can spend in this process can balloon very quickly if you go resource-hungry, and can bite you back if you for some reason decide not to pursue in the end, or fail to realize just how awesome you are without the help of someone whispering it in your ear. If you’re like me and find dropping stacks of cash on external assistance a little off-putting, there are plenty of options for you to get similar ‘advantages’ while still having money to buy dinner at the end of the day. Good luck! |
Updated on: 09 Aug 2016, 03:10
08 Aug 2016, 10:02
| FROM MBAble: The Application Grind is Never Over for this MBA Candidate |
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So I’ve come to realize that applications don’t end with admission into your desired MBA program. I have been working my tail off for about the past month (that’s my excuse for not posting on this blog in as much time, by the way? ), working on applications for selective Booth and non-Booth classes that I plan to take in the Autumn 2016 quarter. Beyond that, I have also been tailoring my plan of attack for other application-gated classes offered in later quarters. Highly regarded classes at Booth (based on what I’ve gathered from current student and alumni testimonies), such as Entrepreneurial Discovery with Mark Tebbe, Lab in Developing New Products and Services with Arthur Middlebrooks, and Strategy Lab with Harry Davis call for students to provide applications to those courses that include short essay responses to specific questions. As far as the instructional/institutional motivations to include the intermediate step of applications for these courses, I suppose there are a few main reasons for this, drawing on my experience applying for Entrepreneurial Discovery:
Although I am confident in my ability to be accepted into at least one of the classes I applied for, I have found myself stressing out about Plan A-to-Z for my schedule in case I don’t get into a desired section. It doesn’t help that final decisions aren’t released until very close to the start of the quarter when bidding for general admission classes has generally ended, making it harder to pivot to alternatives. Oh, well. I’ll live either way. Now that the bulk of my application grind for the coming quarter is done, I am focusing on calming down and detaching from the whole business school thing until orientation (a.k.a. LAUNCH) in a couple of weeks. During this time, I’m also thinking about writing some new short stories and revising some old ones to help me meet my goal of becoming eligible for membership into Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America. Until next time! Durian P.S. Hopefully I can be more consistent with my posting, moving forward.  
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09 Aug 2016, 10:01
| FROM MBA Reapplicant: MIA |
| I have been out of the blogging game for a bit, but I promise that won't be a regular thing. With classes and recruiting in full swing, I have had little time for anything else. That being said, I have had the chance to blog a couple of times for the Anderson MBA Student Voice. Check it our here! |
09 Aug 2016, 10:01
| FROM MBA Reapplicant: Great Article about Anderson |
 Check out this awesome article about Anderson on Poets & Quants, https://poetsandquants.com/2015/01/02/uclas-anderson-school-morphs-into-a-friendly-tech-hub/. Anderson is a great place! Sorry for the lack of updates recently. I promise there is a new post coming soon! |
26 Aug 2016, 03:02
| FROM FINAL HOUR MBA: The Value of a Vision |
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This is the kickoff for my 2016-2017 application season. After a summer of introspect and debate I have decided to relaunch my b-school application journey. Why would anyone want to go through the “Doldrums” and the pain of rejection all over again? It comes down to one word: vision. vision: noun, vi·sion, \ˈvi-zhən\ a thought, concept, or object formed by the imagination Application consultants will talk about selling your story to the adcom. I’ve worked in sales and have seen all sorts of techniques. As the biggest customer or stories in the b-school world, adcoms have developed an ability to sniff out garbage. Your story is typically crap. Words you think they want to hear just so you can get in to their prestigious school, have a good brand on your resume, and get more money at some large company. If this sounds like you then your vision is the same as thousands of other applicants. That is to say, while your goals are clear, your vision is empty. It reads loud and clear in your application and typically ends up in the rejection pile. How do we fight this? The answer again is vision. If your goals are similar to those stated above, there’s nothing wrong with that. Most people enjoy more money and titles at work. If they don’t, an MBA is usually far from their mind. Developing a vision is probably the most time-consuming task in your MBA journey. GMAT and GPA are great but your essays, interviews, and 2 years of school will be driven by a few very simple themes. Planning up front will maximize the value of your effort. I’ll attempt to break down my approach to developing a vision and then how to use it in the following steps. Step 1 – Escape Get out of your office. Get out of your house. Get out of your city. Close the laptop. Put down the phone. Get away from everything familiar. This step is about clarity. You’re taking a major step in your life. Don’t let the barista who made your latte with whole milk instead of coconut milk influence your outlook on school. Now that you’re settled in, find something that can settle your mind. I use music. Dave Matthews Band (early) or this song usually get me in the right frame of mind: Step 2 – Introspection I’ll let you guys look that one up. In essence you want to develop an idea of what is most important to you. Write it down if you need to. But the list is just the start. Next to each item dig a little deeper. Think why that item is important. Where did it come from? How can you achieve it? Is it yours or someone else’s? Don’t be afraid to go deep*. This the rest of your life we’re talking about here. *one caveat, don’t start assigning blame or have negative thoughts about each item. This clouds your mental clarity you achieved in Step 1 Step 3 – Let Go Now you have a great list of what makes you, well, you. You have a better understanding of how you got there. At this point you can probably see where this exercise is heading. Time for a changeup. Drop the list. The list was to define where you are. It puts you in the frame of mind to create a solid vision for the future. Step 4 – Back to The Future This is the core of the exercise. Close your eyes and see yourself 5 after graduation. We live in fast times. There’s no need for 3, 10, 30-year plans. 5 years will do the trick. When you see yourself in the future take some time to immerse yourself in the vision. Where are you sitting? In an office? On a beach? What are you driving? A bike, a car, a horse? Where and what do you do for work? Take in the entire vision, don’t just pick a job, house, etc…these are still generic goals. See deep into non-professional goals as well. Do you volunteer? Are you an avid traveler? Most importantly, what is the most exciting part of your day and week? If you are having trouble with this step take the “legacy” route. When you die, what are the 5 things you want to be remembered for? This approach is rather depressing though. Step 5 – Repeat, then Work Backwards OK, now you’ve taken the time to really see where you want to be. Repeat this exercise a few times. You’ve tuned out external pressures to clearly find your true vision. Embrace it. Webster’s defines passion as an intense, driving, or overmastering feeling or conviction. Vision = Passion. Finally, work backwards and think hard about what steps need to be taken to get to the vision of your future. Research the career steps or skills needed to get to the job in your vision. Use specific examples from your future to plan out what you need to do. For example, if you want to help technology entrepreneurs in Malaysia you might want to go to a school on the West Coast or Pacific Rim. Consider events in your past that influenced your vision. Use these examples in your essays and to explain your career/academic choices to this point. Most schools why them and how they will help you in your future. Don’t be generic, you already see the future. Find relative examples. You may even realize, for example, that Booth or Cornell don’t have a lot to offer for your specific goals. Don’t apply to schools that don’t fit your plan. Rankings are external pressures. If you are looking for a tool to help define the path to your future, I recommend mind mapping. There’s a lot of software for this but nothing beats plain paper and colored pencils. El Fin So now you have a clear vision of where you want to be and you are developing your path and what b-school really means. This is finally YOUR STORY. Not the generic one that every half-hearted applicant submits. When you start preparing essays, interviews, and school visits you will notice a better reaction. Your passion about the what and why of your MBA will come through clearly. This is just a first step in developing a vision, applying it to applications, and delivering on it throughout business school. This is also my process. Add to it. Enhance it. Please feel free to share if any of this is useful and how your journey is going.  
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31 Aug 2016, 22:01
| FROM TopDogMBA - A Reapplicant's Tail: Hello, goodbye |
This week saw TopDogMBA clear the 15,000 unique visitor milestone – thanks! Before I get very much older – and since I don’t expect to publish (m)any more posts on this blog – I wanted to introduce myself as David C. Rolls. Here’s my polished, official MIT Sloan photo, and you can read all about […]
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01 Sep 2016, 10:01
| FROM TopDogMBA - A Reapplicant's Tail: The long and winding road |
It’s been 28 months since I started this blog – and over a year since my last post – so I thought it was time to update y’all. Fortunately, I’ve had time to introduce my faithful Beagle pup, Beatrice, to classmates and arrange a photo shoot on campus. Sorry for the delay! With such a long […]
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07 Sep 2016, 10:01
| FROM The MBA Manual: I’ll edit your essay for free |
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Hey, guys, So, I’ve decided to run a contest in hopes of getting the word about the site out to as many applicants as possible this application season. Entry: Share your favorite MBAManual post on Facebook (with a blurb or two about why you like it)and you’re entered. Just send a screen shot of your post to info@mbamanual.com and you’re in. I’ll respond with a verification email. The winner: The winner will be selected randomly by me (using MBA Excel magic) on September 25th at 1 PM EST. If the post is still on Facebook, I’ll email the winner directly and post their name here at that time. The Prize: I will personally edit one essay of the winning applicant. I’ll do both a content edit (fit with the school, coherence of your story, etc.) and a line edit (grammar, spelling, etc.). I’ll get it back to the winner by September 27th so that they’ll make the October 1st deadlines of some schools. That’s it! Best of luck to you all, and I look forward to crafting an application masterpiece with the winner. Best, Ryan  
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10 Oct 2016, 01:55
| FROM Oh Kay MBA: The sweet waiting begins |
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It’s done: all my applications are submitted. Wharton was the last one. So, now, the -not so- sweet waiting begins. Next week, I will start to prepare for the interviews even if I don’t know whether I would get the invitations. However, I don’t want to think about the application right now. During the next months, even though preparing the interviews will demand great dedication, I will still have more time to spare without studying for the GMAT or writing essays. Therefore, I want to focus in other activities, some of which will indirectly help strengthen a potential interview.
 
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10 Oct 2016, 01:55
| FROM Oh Kay MBA: What Columbus Day will bring |
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I was totally freaking out. Apparently, most of the HBS invites were already sent and I didn’t get one. However, there are still some to come out on the 12th, so I’m trying to keep my hopes intact. Most people are saying to keep low expectations for the 12th, but I won’t do that. I refuse to think it is over until it is. As any other applicant, I really put my heart and soul into all my essays, but given how open the HBS question was, I had the chance to make it the most personal and honest of all my essays. Now, I’m trying to see the situation from a different perspective. I am sure everyone who applies to this program is a highly capable candidate and will be successful no matter what MBA program they end up enrolling or whether they enroll at all. The MBA is only a means to an end. What drives us a keeps us going is our passion. I am positive all applicants are passionate about what they do, as they had the guts to go through this stressful process. And, surely, a ding can’t and won’t take away our passion. Therefore, relax, take it easy. I am still keeping my expectations high for the 12th and hoping to hearing from Booth soon. All the same, no matter the result, the show must go on!  
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15 Oct 2016, 19:02
| FROM Oh Kay MBA: Keep moving forward |
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After days of waiting, sharing the tension with other applicants in forums, coming up with different theories about invites patterns, and, overall, refreshing my inbox every five minutes to see if the so awaited mail was already there, I finally have my first 2 answers from B-schools. HBS: Dinged Booth: Invited to Interview  The HBS ding I finally got a mail from HBS – “Your application status has changed”. No warm greetings, and to make it worse everyone at the gmatclub forum was reporting dings. Therefore, when I logged into my application page I did not have my hopes up anymore. Indeed, I found the dreaded message – “Thank you very much for your interest”. The next minutes were a mix of emotions: sadness, anger, fear. But then came acceptance, as I said “well, game over, maybe it wasn’t the best place for me”. I am sure I can take a big step in my career path with any MBA. However, HBS will always be the golden brand, the one that makes a resume shine. In the end, I guess I just wanted the validation. To be honest, what I am most worried about is what this rejection could mean regarding my GSB application. Stanford is my dream school. I love the culture, the methodology, the small class, the great entrepreneurship spirit, and besides many other things, of course, California! If it really is all about the fit, I think my fit with HBS was only good enough, but I am positive I fit in Stanford in every sense. However, I know how low the odds are. Invited to interview with Booth! I was so excited to get my first interview invite that I contacted my interviewer in the blink of an eye. I will have my interview off-campus as I don’t have the time nor the means to go to Chicago at the moment – I live in South America. So, as my interview is only a little more than a week away, right now I am 100% focused on killing it. Soon, I will be sharing my progress and ramblings on my interview planning.  
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28 Oct 2016, 18:00
| FROM The adventures of a (provisional) MBA student: Wrapping Up (Part 1) – Academics at HBS |
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What’s Coming Up It’s been common refrain at HBS that we do a lot of ‘reflections’ – on our personal lives, careers, future direction in life, etc. But as a line in the HBS show said “now you must reflect deeply… within the next 10 seconds“. It’s a whirlwind experience, and you hardly have time to breathe – especially in the RC (first) year. Now, I’ve had almost 6 months since graduating and I truly have a chance to reflect on the last two years, and have the opportunity to try and provide an objective assessment on my experience at HBS – did it live up to my expectations? Did I wish I’d chosen differently? How cold is it REALLY on the bridge across the Charles river in January (answer: very). A few requests I’ve had for topics revolve around three areas, but in general most people wanted an overview of the experience from someone who’s been there. So I’ll cover the HBS triangle: Academics, extracurricular activities, and career opportunities. “You can only choose one to excel at, perhaps two without sleep. HBS is all about forcing you to make choices” – Anonymous Student This is the first post covering the academic experience, and I aim to follow up before the year is up with the other two sections. I’ll be back before the end of the year to finish this off, I promise dear reader! Starting Out in the Classroom: Cold Calls & The Case Experience I was a recipient of my section’s first cold call in class, on the very first day. It’s a strange experience. By this point you’ll have heard a little about how the classroom format works (if not, check youtube here), maybe visited or even had a practice run at an admit weekend. But there’s little that can compare to being asked to critically analyze a case in front of 90+ of your newest friends. This is an quintessentially HBS moment – and utterly brutal. First, after a brief introduction, for me the professor started with “I always like to begin a new year with the person who is now sitting in my old seat”. His head turns to look me directly in the eyes… immediately my peripheral perception shuts down, and all I can see through my tunnel vision is the professor looking straight at you. “I’m sorry, I didn’t catch all of that, could you repeat the second part of your question?” During the brief respite comes the tightening in the chest. The voices in your head start early too: “Don’t say that, it’s a stupid thing to say”. “I hadn’t even considered that point of view”. “Oh dear..”. Eventually, I begin with “Well, I can see both sides of the debate…” and is immediately met with the response “A CLASSIC HBS answer! Pick a side! You’re her, so what would you DO…?”. The class giggles slightly as a collective (translation: “thank the heavens that isn’t me”). And so it begins… Workload After two years, I’ll have read over 500 cases, at a rate of two to three a day. In the beginning, it’ll probably take well over two hours to prepare for each class. Each class is 80 minutes long, and the curriculum is front-loaded so 3 case days are the norm to begin with, which adds up to at least 12 hours just for academic work. You can add to this the usual socializing activities, getting to know your classmates, or within the first two weeks information sessions on various career paths begin. It’s a punishing schedule from the outset and time is scarce. After a while, perhaps halfway through the second semester, this reduces down to between an hour, and an hour and a half (or less, depending on your level of interest and attentiveness) in total prep per class. This means that time becomes more flexible, but by then you’ve been thrown into first year recruiting (most likely – for summer internships) which soaks up most of this time, and if anything is more intensive. The Section Experience It’s a massive buzz getting your name card at such a well-respected institution. It sits in front of you for the whole year, and I got strangely attached to mine. You don’t move seats at all in the first semester, so you get to know your amazing seatmates pretty well too. They’ll almost certainly become good friends. Over time you’ll meet the rest of your section. I’ve been genuinely open mouthed at some of the stories that sneak out during classroom discussions (or even more often outside). Even with the typical MBA concentration of consulting and finance backgrounds, the range of expertise in an HBS classroom is staggering. I found that those with more traditional backgrounds had ‘something else’ about them that meant they really stood out. Without exception it’s an exceptional group of people. I’ll write more about this in a later post. Knowing each other so well, even after a few weeks in such an intense environment means discussions become raw quickly and opinions are free-flowing. This is a great thing. The professors can often go 5 or 10 minutes without talking, only pointing to the next raised hand to continue the discussion (this is quite a skill to do well, do not think this is a free-ride compared to lecturing at the front of the class). I found in my group there was a great respect for the opinions of others, there was also a healthy appetite for debate and frank discussion. My own stand out moments include a section mate bluntly calling out a guest on his slightly dubious attitude to his staff, leadership lessons ACTUALLY ‘from the front-line’ and ‘while under-fire’ in Iraq & Afghanistan, or being expertly coached on the finer points of diversifying your asset portfolio by a former high-flying hedge fund analyst who sat a few seats away to my right. Teaching I hesitate to definitively assess any aspect of HBS, as I lack a point of reference at some of the other top institutions that are undoubtedly also excellent. But if I had to, the level of teaching is one area I’d generally give full marks. Compared to my undergraduate experience, the care, attention to detail, and knowledge of the staff (I include all staff, not just professors) is exceptional. Professors have to spend one of the two semesters each year dedicated to teaching and writing new cases and it shows. They know you, your name, your background, and what cases you may be able to bring unique outside knowledge into the classroom, even before they set foot in front of your section. At the beginning of the semester, the professors have a seating chart with handwritten notes all over it, hanging behind their desk in their office. The preparation is outstanding – apparently a single case takes around two days to prepare to teach. This is a contrast to many other top schools, where star professors are left to their own research and rarely leave their office. Of course, it is a big school and they are in demand, internally as well as all over the world in many cases. But over two years you will get enough time to get a real taste for top class academic thought. I could cite many examples, such as listening to Clayton Christensen explain the original thinking behind ‘disruption’, as opposed to it’s highly corrupted recent definition, is a real thrill and added a huge amount to my own understanding. I’ve been fortunate to meet and get to know some of my professors personally. At times their families, and outside the classroom. They’re passionate, warm people who want to learn from you and your experiences as much as you do from them. Curriculum An oft-cited cause of concern amongst aspiring MBA’s is the RC (‘Required Curriculum’) at HBS during the first year. In contrast to Wharton for example, the first year is fully prescribed. There are no electives – you get what you’re given. Courses range from Finance (1&2), to Marketing, to ‘Lead’ (Leadership and People Management) to BGIE (Business, Government, and the International Economy). You don’t get to choose any of your courses in your first year… the horror of enduring FRC (Financial Reporting and Control)! But with hindsight there is a good reason for this: a standard base in the class’s knowledge is a) is useful to you, why learn what you already like and know, not something new from sometimes genuine experts in the room? And it’s also b) useful to others: in the second (EC – ‘elective curriculum’) year discussions are much better with some shared knowledge and base level of understanding in some quite niche topics. You reach a greater level of depth, faster as a result. And FRC is actually quite interesting… sometimes! Of course, you could go elsewhere and dedicate yourself to 20-odd courses in the detailed assessment of fast-growing startups (or similar). But don’t expect everyone a) to know exactly what they want to learn, and b) don’t expect yourself to be comprehensible to others afterwards anyway. Personally I’ve enjoyed the ability to pick completely new topics to me in the second year, with the safety net of knowing I won’t be completely out of my depth basing myself on the much broader RC year. And I’ve benefited from it. “So, to summarize…” It’s said HBS students get great at picking a position, talking a lot and arguing strongly for it. But they may lack in execution, compared to thinking and speaking. But most people at HBS already ARE doers. It’s an incredibly action-orientated and self-starting community. So while I can see why people may see this highly negatively, I’m more inclined to see this as a way of rounding out some rough corners on some already pretty talented individuals. HBS is smart too. You’re in the family now. They want you to engage, discuss, challenge, and argue at every opportunity. And that’s the best way to learn – this isn’t undergraduate level getting spoon fed content out of a book – and you get out what you put in. In an academic context, they understand that in future you will become their next case protagonists. A hugely surprising proportion of cases are from the perspective of HBS alumni. And many of them come back to class, to share their experience first hand. And then listen to what we think. What an endorsement. Thanks to all those at HBS (fellow students and the dedicated staff) who made sitting in the classroom such a phenomenal experience for me over the last two years.  
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30 Oct 2016, 17:02
| FROM Oh Kay MBA: My first interview: The details |
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Earlier this week, I had my interview with Booth. Given that this was my first one, I had a lot of doubts: from how to approach some of the questions to what to wear. The day of my interview, I arrived 25 minutes before at the coffee shop where we had agreed to meet. The email from Booth said to arrive 15 minutes in advance but I did not want to take risks with the traffic, so I ended up arriving earlier than planned. Exactly at the set hour, my interviewer showed. We greeted each other and he introduced himself. I already knew a good deal of details about him, as I had obviously stalked him a little before the interview. He is a recent graduate, class of 2016. My first impression was that he was a highly empathic person. I was a bit nervous, but this feeling lasted only for a few seconds as my interviewer made me feel at ease. What did we talk about?
Now, another long waiting begins to hear the final decision from Booth. December 10th seems so far away.  
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21 Nov 2016, 10:01
| FROM The MBA Manual: MBA vs. MiM [Guest Post] |
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Hey, guys! We have a great guest post by Abhyank Srinet of MiM-Essay. In a quick post and an awesome infographic, Abhyank goes over the differences between a Msaster of Business Administration (MBA) and a Master in Management (MiM). Enjoy! MBA vs Masters in Management- The Ultimate Guide Abhyank Srinet The MBA has always been the go-to degree for anyone wanting to make a switch into management or someone who is looking for a way to take up increased responsibility at work, and it works pretty well with a high percentage of graduates meeting their goals. But getting into a great B-school isn’t always easy, even if you meet the stringent GMAT regulations, maintain a great GPA, and write engaging essays, you still need to meet an important condition: that of a significant amount of work experience. With B-schools averaging around 4-5 years of work experience, accumulating work experience poses a significant challenge for people who want to shift to a management career quickly, and such a group is increasingly abundant in this generation of millennials. Maybe that is the reason why the Masters in Management is increasing rapidly in popularity as an alternative to the MBA. So what exactly is a Masters in Management? It is a degree with origins in Europe which caters to a younger audience between the age of 21-24 who are recent graduates or have less than 2 years of work experience. Lately, major schools all over the world have started offering it, from Duke Fuqua to Kellogg in the US, all the way to NUS in Singapore. So is it giving the MBA a run for its money? Well, not exactly. Though the Masters in Management(MiM) has a course which is about 50-60% similar to that of an MBA, it caters to a different audience and a different age group than that targeted by a traditional MBA. Here is an Infographic presenting the 11 differences between the MBA and the MiM:  Interested in learning more? Check out this blog post by Abhyank, detailing more of what an MiM is and what it has to offer.  
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22 Nov 2016, 16:01
| FROM The MBA Manual: MBA vs. MiM [Guest Post] |
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Hey, guys! We have a great guest post by Abhyank Srinet of MiM-Essay. In a quick post and an awesome infographic, Abhyank goes over the differences between a Master of Business Administration (MBA) and a Master in Management (MiM). Enjoy! MBA vs Master in Management- The Ultimate Guide Abhyank Srinet The MBA has always been the go-to degree for anyone wanting to make a switch into management or someone who is looking for a way to take up increased responsibility at work, and it works pretty well with a high percentage of graduates meeting their goals. But getting into a great B-school isn’t always easy, even if you meet the stringent GMAT regulations, maintain a great GPA, and write engaging essays, you still need to meet an important condition: that of a significant amount of work experience. With B-schools averaging around 4-5 years of work experience, accumulating work experience poses a significant challenge for people who want to shift to a management career quickly, and such a group is increasingly abundant in this generation of millennials. Maybe that is the reason why the Masters in Management is increasing rapidly in popularity as an alternative to the MBA. So what exactly is a Masters in Management? It is a degree with origins in Europe which caters to a younger audience between the age of 21-24 who are recent graduates or have less than 2 years of work experience. Lately, major schools all over the world have started offering it, from Duke Fuqua to Kellogg in the US, all the way to NUS in Singapore. So is it giving the MBA a run for its money? Well, not exactly. Though the Masters in Management(MiM) has a course which is about 50-60% similar to that of an MBA, it caters to a different audience and a different age group than that targeted by a traditional MBA. Here is an Infographic presenting the 11 differences between the MBA and the MiM: Interested in learning more? Check out this blog post by Abhyank, detailing more of what an MiM is and what it has to offer.
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02 Dec 2016, 22:01
| FROM Oh Kay MBA: The hardest stage |
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Since my last post, I’ve got the interview decisions for the other two business schools I applied to: Denied by Wharton and Invited to Interview with Stanford. It all happened so fast that I already had my interview with Stanford. It is all said and done, now. The hardest days About two months ago, I thought that there could be nothing worse than waiting for interview invites. Now, however, I find myself at the most painful stage of this process: waiting for final decisions. I hate feeling that I have no control over the result anymore. Moreover, the days until the final decision seem endless, as if I were seeing the world at a slow motion, a situation that just helps increase my agony. Something that is helping me though is that I have a lot of events going on right now that demand lots of concentration: a new project at work, the upcoming show at my dance academy, the closing event at the organization where I volunteer. But, wait a second! I am forgetting something important. Even if I am constantly trying to inject myself with positive thinking based on the fact that my interviews went really good, I should be prepared for the worst. Round 2 applications I am doing Kellogg and Columbia for round 2. Am I already preparing my applications? I made a first draft of the essays, but I have barely made any progress to be honest. I find really hard to put all my effort in these applications at the moment because I can’t help but thinking that I may not need to submit them at all. To make things worse, the timing is awful. I will be hearing the first final decision on December 8th and by then it will be too late to start round 2 applications, so I should get to work right now. About a week from now, round 1 will be over and hopefully the whole application process too. However, until then I guess I will be working on my applications for round two. Good luck with your applications!  I’m just doing some drawing to deal with the anxiety.  
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